Year on year analysis of listening for national radio services during the second quarter of 2003 reveals a rather lacklustre performance for sports-based stations, which were unable to match the success afforded them by last summer’s World Cup.
BBC Radio Five Live was the worst hit, with its weekly reach declining by almost 13% year on year and its share of listening slipping by 0.5% points during the same period. The station’s closest commercial rival, talkSPORT, also suffered from the absence of the world’s most renowned football tournament, with its weekly reach declining by 10% year on year million and its share of listening dropping by 0.2% points.
Elsewhere, Virgin Radio AM UK had a rather lacklustre in the three months to June 2003, despite a £3 million advertising campaign (see Virgin Radio Invests £3m In Biggest Ever Ad Campaign) and a series of changes to its DJ line-up earlier this year. The station, which recently emerged victorious from its High Court tussle with Chris Evans (see SMG Triumphs Over Evans In High Court Battle), saw its weekly reach decline by 13.3% year on year and its share of listening slip slightly points during the same period.
Total Virgin Radio also faltered during the second quarter of this year, with a year on year drop in weekly reach and a modest decline in share of listening to 1.6%. However, this decline could be due to the growing popularity of new digital and online listening formats, which are rapidly attracting audiences.
Things were also less than rosy over at the BBC, which continued to see the popularity of its flagship youth station, Radio 1, decline. Despite renewing its contract with high-profile breakfast show host, Sara Cox, the station saw its weekly reach fall year on year and its share of listening decline to 7.6%.
However, BBC Radio 2 maintained its position as the UK’s most popular radio station and despite a slight year on year drop in weekly reach, continued to prove there is life after Jimmy Young. Speculation suggests the station is battling to keep hold of Jonathan Ross after Capital Radio reportedly approached the award winning presenter as a possible replacement for Chris Tarrant at its flagship London station.
The increasing appeal of dance-orientated formats was highlighted in the three months to June by a strong performance from the Kiss network. RAJAR results for the second quarter of 2003 also revealed a positive period for the Jazz network, which saw its weekly reach top 1.4 million.
Capital’s Xfm reported on a national scale for the first time this quarter, with a weekly reach of 606,000, placing it just behind Emap’s Smash Hits Radio and the rock-focussed Kerrang!. However, the alternative music station matched its contemporaries in terms of share of listening.
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